Treffer: Softwaretechnische Instrumentenunterstützung für ein leistungssteuerndes HNO Navigationssystem

Software engineering can be used to realize more complex functionalities in medical devices. In computer-assisted surgery, assistance systems are developed, in order to reduce the risks posed by existing surgical methods and to explore new surgical methods. To cope with increasing complexity of such systems, instead of hardware-oriented implementations, abstraction concepts are needed to realize manageable program structures and unproblematic expandability. For the already clinically evaluated navigation system FESS-Control, a model will be developed and implemented using well-known software engineering methods. Unlike to the existing implementation, the model allows the description of power-controlled surgical instruments on an level and their safe automatic identification. FESS (functional endonasal sinus surgery) describes a minimally invasive surgical method for treating diseases of the nose and paranasal sinuses. The surgeon has no direct view of the operation site and his instruments. In order to support the surgeon during the operation, FESS-Control uses an optical navigation camera to determine the spatial position of the shaver with respect to the patient and his image data during the operation. At the same time, the instrument's power is controlled to protect sensitive tissue. The new model can be used to overcome the limitations of the existing system, which only supports straight shaver blades, and to allow the use of other shaver blades needed in medical applications. The new solution for the FESS-Control system is a convincing example of how software engineering methods can be gainfully used in medical technology.